State senator remains concerned about treatment of conservatives at University of Nebraska

A state senator who has had an ongoing battle with the University of Nebraska over its treatment of conservatives says the issue has yet to be resolved.

Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard remains concerned about the political environment on the Lincoln campus.

“Conservatives are not treated well at the University of Nebraska,” Erdman tells Brownfield Ag News. “That’s well documented. I’m not sure that the university has admitted fully to that, yet. They have actually admitted to what has been discovered and that’s all they have admitted to.”

Erdman is one of three state senators who had complained the university failed to deal quickly with a complaint from a student who said she was harassed while recruiting for a conservative organization.

University of Nebraska – Lincoln sophomore Kaitlyn Mullen of Highlands Ranch, Colorado says some faculty derided her when she set up a table on campus outside the Nebraska Union to recruit for Turning Point USA, a conservative organization. Mullen complained graduate assistant Courtney Lawton called her a neo-fascist.

University of Nebraska President Hank Bounds has stated Lawton will not be returning after her contract expires at the end of the year. Two personnel from the UNL communications department resigned in wake of the controversy.

Erdman worries there remains a bias against conservatives.

“So, I hope that they try to fix it,” Erdman says. “I’m not feeling real comfortable about the results that I see so far, but we’ll continue to ask questions and try get to the bottom of it, but this isn’t over yet.”